ViDock 4 - Unbox, Hardware Setup, Software Setup, and Demo Videos

Intro
The ViDock is an "enclosure" for PCI express graphics cards that connect to laptops via the Express Card Slot, in other terms it's an external graphics card.   If you have wanted to play "hard core" 3d games or do anything 3D then this might be a solution if your laptop can't handle the 3D side.  This is not for those who want an easy plug and play device.

I ran into many different devices, most which you cannot buy or are not compatible.  The ViDock was the one  device that was out there and ready to order.  I also must apologyze as this guide was going to be easier, but in the end I have other compromises that I must deal with.  As you watch the videos you will see the different change of clothes, haircuts, beard sizes, etc.  The videos were filmed over several days.

My setup:
Lenovo X201 Tablet (Core i7, Intel HD Graphics, 4GB RAM, Win 7 Pro)
Vidock 4 with ATI Radeon HD 5770



About the Post and Videos

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I'll to break this post into several parts that you need to get it working which are:

• Unbox
• Hardware Setup
• Software Setup
• Switching Graphics
• 3D Demonstrations
• Useful Info
• Conclusion
• Links
• Questions and Answers

Unbox

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What's in the box:

• ViDock 4 Enclosure box
• Plate Panel with Elastic
• 4 Securing Screws
• ViDock motherboard (with 6 pin power connection, and express card connection)
• ViDock power supply

Hardware Setup

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It doesn't include a graphics card, so you will have to find that yourself. Compatible graphics card chart at the bottom of the post.

Village Instruments states that:

ViDock 4 is designed for those higher performance graphics cards that require up to 150W of power and use a 6 pin power connector to supplement the power supplied by the PCI Express connector. It will accommodate cards that are up to 316mm long, which is the PCI Express “full length” specification.

There's a 75W limitation on the power the 6 pin PCI Power connector can provide. Wiki-PCI-E Power This power supplements what the PCI-E slot provides, so technically it can provide 150W of power. If a card requires 2x 6 pin PCI Power connectors then the ViDock 4 may not work. Village Instruments offers other ViDocks that provide more power.

Software Setup

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The initial setup is a bit "complex", but it works. There might be a better way, but I'm not aware of it. I can only go by what I figured out in my trial and error steps, which eventually did work.

Make sure that you do not have the Catalyst software installed!  If you have installed it then remove it and use the "display driver" only.  Also... create a system restore point.

Steps:

• While laptop is on connect the ViDock 4 to your computer.
• Wait for a few seconds/minutes for the system to install, then shut down your system.
• Once the system is off disconnect your ViDock 4, and then boot up.
• Download the drivers from ATI's website and install the "Display Driver" only (for extraction purposes, remember the folder name - usually C:\ATI\Support\)
• Go to Device Manager and disable Intel HD Graphics, shut down system
• Connect ViDock 4, boot up
• Reinstall the Display Driver only for ATI Radeon 5770
• Go to Device Manager, Display Adapters, Right Click on Radeon 5770 (It could say VGA adapter), Update Driver, Point to the extracted files folder.
• You might have to restart your computer.
• Enjoy your ViDock 4

Switching Graphics

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All systems come with integrated graphics or discreet graphics. If you have integrated graphics like the Intel's HD Graphics you must disable it before you can use the ViDock 4.

Steps to enable ViDock 4:

• Go to Device Manager and Disable Intel HD Graphics
• Shutdown system. Connect ViDock 4 and Boot Up.
• Play your games

Steps to go back to Intel HD Graphics:

• Shutdown system. Disconnect ViDock 4. Boot Up.
• Go to Device Manager and Enable Intel HD Graphics
• Restart your System

3D Demonstrations

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 GRAW, Total War: Empire, Mafia II

 Mafia II

Useful Info

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Compatible graphics cards with ViDock chart

Make sure that you are getting the right graphics card for the right ViDock.

For search engine purposes I have written what graphics cards are compatible with ViDock.  I'm sure people want to know compatibility details and the image isn't searchable.

ViDock 3 (75W) is compatible with:

ATI Radeon HD 5670, 5570, 5550, 5450, 4670, 4550, 4350, FirePro 24XX

Nvidia GeForce 210, 8600GT (59W), Quatro NVS

ViDock 4 (150W) is compatible with:

All of the mentioned cards above and

ATI Radeon HD 5770, 5750, 4850, 4830, 4770

Nvidia GTS250, 9600GT (96W)

ViDock 4 Plus (225W) is compatible with:

All of the mentioned cards above and

ATI Radeon HD 5870, 5850, 5830, 4890, 4870

Nvidia GTX 470, 465, 460, 260

I'm not sure what the XXX means on that image, but it says it's compatible with:

ATI HD 5970, 4870 Eyefinity, 4870 x2

Nvidia GTX 480

My guess is that there might be another version, but I have not seen in on Village Instrument's website.

Conclusion

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If you are willing to put the work that it takes it's totally worth it. Once you have done the inital setups (Hardware and Software) then you just have to do Switching Graphics. I wish I could just plug the ViDock 4 and have it up and running, but that's not the case.

The advantage of the ViDock is the power that you can add to your laptop. The more I play with the Lenovo X201 it seems that it's both a mobile and desktop solution. It's a powerful system that only needs help in the graphics department.  Convertible tablets have good battery life with their integrated graphics, but always fall behind their laptop buddies with discreet graphics.  As we see technology evolve we'll see more powerful portable systems and more powerful graphics cards.  But for right now, the ViDock solution is here for those that need it.

Lenovo X201 Windows User Experience before ViDock 4

Lenovo X201 Windows User Experience with ViDock 4

Take a look at that Graphics and Gaming Graphics ratings.  A good improvement right?  :)

Failed Attempts

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Links:

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Devices and Programs:

• ViDock 4 - http://www.villageinstruments.com/
• Village Instruments Support (it's ok, but not great)
• ATI Radeon HD 5770
• Consider a Cooler Master to keep your X201 cool
• fr-25: the popular demo

Other Useful Links:

• DIY ViDock Forums
• Express Card Facts at Wikipedia (there are bandwidth limits)
• Alternative, but similar to ViDock
• Other Alternatives

Optimus Technology for ViDock and Nvidia Cards:

• http://forum.notebookreview.com

Questions and Answers

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Do I need an external monitor for the ViDock to work?
Yes for most graphics cards. The flow goes from laptop to ViDock, from ViDock to external monitor.  I used an ATI Radeon card and the signal would not go back to the laptop.  However, it seems that Nvidia Optimus capable GPUs can.

Hi Jesse,

Just wanted to clarify an answer you gave in ViDock Questions - External Monitor, Express Card slot, Limits, ViDock versions - Vid 7 of 7
You were asked if the ViDock required an external monitor. To which you answered YES.

The answer is in fact NO if you use a NVidia card running Optimus since it can use the Intel iGPU as a framebuffer.

The answer to this question and many more are covered in eGPU experiences.

Also Expresscard 2.0 systems are any new Sandy Bridge notebooks. They have pci-e 2.0 (5GT/s) x1 ports.

Your comments/suggestions are most welcome.

Nando

Do I need an ExpressCard slot?
Yes. 54mm or 34mm will work. If you are planning on having some ExpressCard to USB adapter it will most likely fail. USB is not fast enough for it, and I bet the ViDock needs the PCI-E slot interface to work.  No the SD card slot is NOT the same as the ExpressCard slot.

Check the wikipedia page for more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expresscard

What about "pci-e/usb 2.0" adapters?

ExpressCard slot is required because of the PCI-E/USB interface. Sometimes this PCI-E/USB interface is the same found in many wifi cards. If you were to buy a "mini pci-e/usb 2.0 to expresscard" adapter then you could get the ViDock working. However, this method would turn your laptop into a desktop computer. In? a way the laptop would have to be still because the mini pci-e/usb connector is very fragile, and it would also remove wifi connection. It is more trouble doing it this way.

What is the best ViDock for my system?
If you have an ExpressCard 1.0 slot you might want to consider only getting a ViDock 2, or 3.
If you have an ExpressCard 2.0 the ViDock 4 or 4 Plus will be a better fit.

The reasoning behind this is due to the bandwidth limits of 1.0 and 2.0.  ExpressCard 1.0 has bandwidth limit of 2.5 Gbit/s.  ExpressCard 2.0 has a limit of 5 Gbit/s.  Basically if you get a ViDock 4 for an ExpressCard 1.0 system is a bit a waste.  Most laptops have ExpressCard 1.0, if you have a system released in 2010 you are more likely to have ExpressCard 2.0.

To determine which ExpressCard version you have you can check your laptop's website, or google the CPU for compatibility.  FYI Intel Core i Sandy Bridge CPUs are compatible with ExpressCard 2.0

Will the ViDock work with my (insert system name here)?
Maybe.  Since there are many things to consider for the ViDock it might or it might not work.  I didn't have the easiest of times getting it to work with the Lenovo X201 Tablet due to the Intel HD graphics.  Sometimes you have to disable the integrated graphics card for the ViDock to work.

It seems that some operating systems have a harder time getting the ViDock to work.  Windows 7 seems to be the easiest.

If you are buying the ViDock for a single core CPU laptop just don't do it.  It's a waste.  The ViDock will be better for dual and quad core CPUs.


The card manufacturer recommends 450W power supply, will the ViDock 4's provide enough power?
The "recommended power supply" is different than what the graphic card actually needs. The 450W is what the "entire computer" needs... not the card alone. You need to focus on what the graphic card actually uses, and sometimes this is called "system board power" or "Maximum board power". The power that the card actually uses is a lot less, ranging from 75W up to 225W (and there are a few special cards that may go a bit higher).

An example... AMD recommends a 450W power supply for the the HD 5770. As you can expect, the card DOES NOT NEEED this much power, it only needs 150W. How do I know that it only needs 150W? The site mentions that it needs "1 x 6-pin power connector" (which provides 75W), the other 75W comes from the PCI-E slot interface (found in the ViDock); this totals 150W (which the ViDock provides).

The ViDock 4 provides:

• 75W through a 6-pin PCI-E power connector.
• 75W through through the graphic card PCI-E slot.
• Total of 150W.

ViDock 4 Plus:

• 150W through 2 x 6-pin PCI-E power connectors.
• 75W through the graphic card PCI-E slot.
• Total of 225W

Code 12 - source

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Some laptop PCs do not allocate enough memory resources to PCIe graphics cards connected to the ExpressCard slot, even when memory address space is available. We are working on methods of resolving the "Code 12" error so that these laptops support external PCIe graphics cards. We do not yet have a timeframe for the solution.

If you encounter this, please first make sure that you install the latest drivers from ATI or Nvidia. This will resolve the error on some systems.

If this does not fix the problem, then you will need to reduce the system memory size to 2GB. This will cause most, if not all, PCs running Windows 7 to open up memory space enough for external PCIe graphics card operation. This is done by removing system memory SODIMMs so that the total system memory is 2GB.

We do understand that reducing system memory size to 2GB does impact system performance. While we are working on a solution to this problem between laptop PCs and external PCIe graphics, your system, running with 2GB of system memory, can regain much, if not all, of that performance by enabling the ReadyBoost feature of the operating system and installing a 2GB or greater USB Flash drive or SD card.

Until we develop a method of using external PCIe graphics cards with your laptop while running with greater than 2GB of memory, we suggest that you reduce your system memory size to 2GB, plug in a 2GB or greater USB Flash drive or SD card into your laptop PC, and follow our instructions to enable ReadyBoost. The ReadyBoost instructions can be found at: http://support.villagetronic.com//faq.php?cid=0&answer=70#f70

ALTERNATIVES

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JBA - External Graphic Cards for Laptops - The Enclosures.

DIY (Do it yourself) ViDock method one.
If your laptop has an ExpressCard slot this should work.  It's the same thing as the ViDock, but it does not have included power supply, and the enclosure box.

 Buy a proper power supply, get yourself a PE4H and EC2C.
PE4H is the big assembly that holds your  PCI-E graphics card.
The EC2C is the ExpressCard portion.

DIY ViDock method two.
If your laptop does NOT have an ExpressCard slot then get the following.  The MP3N connects to a laptop's Mini PCI-E slot, usually laptops have a wifi card in there that will have to be removed.  This is a less "mobile alternative" as your laptop cannot be moved easily.

Buy a proper power supply, get yourself a PE4H and a PM3N  (it's a mini PCI-E to mini HDMI)

More links:
http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/
http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/2109-diy-egpu-experiences-%5Bversion-2-0%5D-49.html
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